Overcoming Obstacles to Critical Thinking The ability to think critically is one skill separating innovators from followers. It combats the power of advertisers, unmasks the unscrupulous and pretentious, and exposes unsupported arguments. Students enjoy learning the skill because they immediately see how it gives them more control. Yet critical thinking is simple: It is merely the ability to understand why things are they way they are and to understand the potential consequences of actions. Devastating Consequences, Tremendous Opportunities Young people—without significant life experience and anxious to fit in—are especially vulnerable to surface appeal. Every educator is in a position to teach students how to gather information, evaluate it, screen out distractions, and think for themselves. A World of Illusions Seeing beyond superficial appearances is especially important today because we are surrounded by illusions, many of them deliberately created. Making a Start in Teaching Critical Thinking
One Book, One School: Building Community with Shared Text Some time ago I had the opportunity to read an early copy of R.J. Palacio’s debut novel, Wonder . I’d heard about it through friends and eagerly anticipated reading it. The book took my breath away. The next spring brought opportunities to meet the author, talk about the book with colleagues, and read it to my class. with my fifth graders was amazing. When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind. I knew then that the book had touched the students. throughout the year. As summer began I heard about the movement Random House and R.J. When recommending Wonder to my mom this summer, I told her that my mission was for everyone in our town to read this book. With the start of the school year just around the corner, I scheduled a lunch with my school’s librarian. With the idea of sharing one book with the entire school, we began running through questions and discussing ideas. ? Another possible tie-in is our Family Reading Night this fall.
edutopia Every teacher I've worked with over the last five years recalls two kinds of digital experiences with students. The first I think of as digital native moments, when a student uses a piece of technology with almost eerie intuitiveness. As digital natives, today's teens have grown up with these tools and have assimilated their logic. Young people just seem to understand when to click and drag or copy and paste, and how to move, merge and mix digital elements. The second I call digital naiveté moments, when a student trusts a source of information that is obviously unreliable. How can these coexist? What to Believe? Understanding this extends beyond customary generational finger wagging. Students today face a greater challenge in evaluating information than their parents or grandparents did at their age. This isn't to suggest any shortcoming on the part of today's teachers. It's also a subject that most students find inherently engaging and relevant. 3 Exercises in News Literacy
3 Simple Strategies to Develop Students’ Critical Thinking – Education to Save the World This week we’ve focused on critical thinking using the model developed by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. By now you’re probably excited about the incredible potential that these tools hold…and a little overwhelmed. Where to start? Simple. 1) TELL students that you want them to work on their thinking. You might start this way: “In this class we will learn to be better thinkers. Students should know that you are interested in their thinking and that improved critical thinking is a goal of your classroom. 2) Choose ONE element of thought, intellectual standard, or intellectual trait and teach students what it means. 3) Give students something to think about and ask them to practice improving their thinking. Here are some easy ways to help kids practice: — A and B: Ask students to work in pairs. Image credit: Foundation for Critical Thinking — Telephone: Ask all students to write out answers to your question. — Make it better: Ask one student to share his or her answer with the class.
25 Reading Strategies That Work In Every Content Area 25 Reading Strategies That Work In Every Content Area Reading is reading. By understanding that letters make sounds, we can blend those sounds together to make whole sounds that symbolize meaning we can all exchange with one another. Without getting too Platonic about it all, reading doesn’t change simply because you’re reading a text from another content area. Only sometimes it does. Science content can often by full of jargon, research citations, and odd text features. Social Studies content can be an interesting mix of itemized information, and traditional paragraphs/imagery. Literature? This all makes reading strategies somewhat content area specific. But if you’d like to start with a basic set of strategies, you could do worse than the elegant graphic above from wiki-teacher.com. Looking for related curricula ideas? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. To the above list, we’d add: 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 25 Reading Strategies That Work In Every Content Area
Teaching Strategies to Enhance Memorization The memory demands of school-aged children are more regimented then they were a decade ago. While many schools’ main teaching strategies are not mainly on memorization, but more on higher-order thinking skills, the ability to memorize information is still vastly important. Children are constantly being inundated in the classroom with information on new topics and concepts. While some children may find it to be easy to recall words or math facts in an instant, others’ short-term memory may find it more difficult. Mnemonic Devices Mnemonic devices have been thoroughly studied and have been proven to be an effective way to help one remember information more efficiently. Chunking Words and Activities Encourage your students to chunk. Students Teaching Others Have you ever heard of the saying, “To teach is to learn twice”? Creative classroom activities to help mix up your group work. Teaching strategies to help you give the most effective feedback to your... Using Mental Imagery Focus to Remember
Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Verbs [Infographic] When using Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy (a revised take on Bloom’s devised by educator Andrew Churches), it helps to have a list of verbs to know what actions define each stage of the taxonomy. This is useful for lesson planning, rubric making, and any other teacher-oriented task requiring planning and assessment strategies. The Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy verbs in this handy infographic apply specifically to each stage of the taxonomy. According to Churches on his wiki Edorigami, “Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy describes many traditional classroom practices, behaviours and actions, but does not account for the new processes and actions associated with Web 2.0 technologies …” This means the verbs listed below are applicable to facilitating technology use in the modern classrooms. A Quick Reference Tool for Bloom’s Taxonomy Verbs We hope you find this infographic of Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy verbs useful in your classroom practices. Poster Files For You
Teaching Students How to Set a Purpose for Reading By Sarah Tantillo I think we can all agree that annotating texts helps students comprehend them more deeply. But not all forms of annotating are helpful. How you annotate matters a lot. I’ve seen this problem quite often: students cover their texts with so many notes that it seems to take them an hour to read one page. While it’s great that students can annotate with generic strategies such as underlining topic sentences and starring supporting details, the truth is that they need to learn how to analyze texts more effectively and efficiently. How can we teach readers to determine what’s most important? Students must learn to set a purpose for reading. Too often, teachers set the purpose (with assignments such as “Read Chapter 7 and answer these three questions” or “Read this article and write a summary”), and students do not actually learn how to set a purpose on their own. ► A helpful first step is to identify the GENRE of the text. Download the What’s Important ORGANIZER
Downloadable Materials — The Learning Scientists About the six strategies for effective learning resources: These resources were created based on research from cognitive psychology from the past few decades. To learn more about how we created the materials, see this blog. The materials are intended to teach about principles of learning and to provide teachers and students with flexible guiding principles to guide learning and studying. However, they are not intended to fix all problems within education. Fair use of the materials: Please use our materials and pass them along to others for educational purposes!
10 Team-Building Games That Promote Critical Thinking | TeachThought 10 Team-Building Games That Promote Critical Thinking by TeachThought Staff One of education’s primary goals is to groom the next generation of little humans to succeed in the “real world.” Yes, there are mounds of curricula they must master in a wide breadth of subjects, but education does not begin and end with a textbook or test. Other skills must be honed, too, not the least of which is how to get along with their peers and work well with others. This is not something that can be cultivated through rote memorization or with strategically placed posters. Students must be engaged and cooperation must be practiced, and often. 10 Team-Building Games That Promote Collaborative Critical Thinking You can purchase a classroom-ready version of team-building games that promote critical thinking here. 1. This team-building game is flexible. Then, give them something to construct. You can recycle this activity throughout the year by adapting the challenge or materials to specific content areas. 2. 3.
Top 10 ways to use technology to promote reading I only steal from the best. So here we go. Johnson's Top Ten... Author and fan websites. Here's the thing. Strategies to Build Intrinsic Motivation Punishment, Rewards, and Commitment The issue with classroom management policies in most institutions is that it operates on a carrot-and-stick model. Carrots include PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports), Classroom Economy, and other class rewards. Sticks include punishment such as detention, suspension, or withholding from other activities. Teachers and educational leaders believe that these measures will help control the students. However, self-persuasion produces more powerful and longer-lasting benefits than direct techniques of persuasion produce. The goal of self-persuasion is to create cognitive dissonance in the mind of the one being persuaded. Punishment In 1965, Jonathan Freedman conducted a study in which he presented preschoolers with an attractive, desired, "Forbidden Toy." Weeks later, Freedman pulled the students out of class one by one and had them do a drawing test. Rewards Commitment 7 Examples of Self-Persuasion 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
32 Animated Videos by Wireless Philosophy Teach You the Essentials of Critical Thinking Do you know someone whose arguments consist of baldly specious reasoning, hopelessly confused categories, archipelagos of logical fallacies buttressed by seawalls of cognitive biases? Surely you do. Perhaps such a person would welcome some instruction on the properties of critical thinking and argumentation? Not likely? Well, just in case, you may wish to send them over to this series of Wireless Philosophy (or “WiPhi”) videos by philosophy instructor Geoff Pynn of Northern Illinois University and doctoral students Kelley Schiffman of Yale, Paul Henne of Duke, and several other philosophy and psychology graduates. What is critical thinking? “A good reason for a belief,” Pynn says, “is one that makes it probable. In abductive arguments (or what are also called “inductive arguments”), above, we reason informally to the best, most probable explanation. Find more helpful resources in the Relateds below. Related Content: How to Spot Bullshit: A Primer by Princeton Philosopher Harry Frankfurt